Rebecca Enonchong, a Cameroonian entrepreneur, was named vice-president of the International Chamber of Commerce in June, marking a first for an African woman at this level within the world’s largest private business organisation. This global recognition stands in stark contrast to the ongoing legal and tax pressures she faces in Cameroon, which she asserts are direct retaliation for her outspoken criticism of Paul Biya’s regime. Her story exposes the fundamental hypocrisy of a global system that celebrates the free movement of capital and privileged individuals, while criminalising the movement of countless others from the Global South seeking survival and opportunity.
Born in Yaoundé 59 years ago, Enonchong's early life was defined by international mobility. She had visited approximately 20 countries by age 15. Her mother, an American from Florida, and her father, a renowned lawyer from Cameroon's anglophone southwest, provided an upbringing rich in intellectual and international exposure. She pursued her studies in the United States, discovering computing in the 1980s and graduating in international relations and economics from the Catholic University of America in Washington. This trajectory of seamless global access is a privilege denied to millions, highlighting the structural inequalities embedded within Fortress Europe's border regime.
Capital's Free Flow, People's Imprisonment
Enonchong’s career exemplifies the intertwined nature of global finance and technology. She specialised in financial technology at the Inter-American Development Bank and Oracle before launching AppsTech 27 years ago. Her company, which offers assistance with Oracle systems, quickly secured major contracts across energy, industry, the public sector, and telecommunications. AppsTech opened subsidiaries in France and then in Douala, Cameroon, 24 years ago. This expansion demonstrates the unhindered flow of capital and corporate interests across borders, a freedom rarely extended to the workers and migrants who often originate from the very regions where these corporations extract resources and profit.
Upon her return to Cameroon, Enonchong actively promoted digital development across Africa. She founded Africa Technology Forum, connecting talent from the African diaspora, and co-launched Afrilabs 16 years ago. This pan-African network now supports tech entrepreneurs through 500 incubators in 53 countries, reaching a community of over 2 million people. She consistently praises the "quality of the engineers and entrepreneurs on the continent who sometimes operate in difficult contexts," acknowledging the systemic challenges faced by those building infrastructure outside the established centres of global power.
The Cost of Dissent in a Neoliberal Order
Despite her international acclaim, Enonchong's experience in Cameroon reveals the punitive mechanisms of a state hostile to dissent, often enabled by the broader global economic order. For 22 years, her company has been pursuing unpaid fees from telecoms giant MTN, a situation that has pushed AppsTech's accounts into the red. A court decision ruled in her favour, yet payment remains outstanding. This illustrates the impunity often enjoyed by large corporations, even against local businesses, a hallmark of neoliberal governance.
Enonchong, a human rights and democracy activist, has been a vocal critic of the Biya regime, its handling of the anglophone conflict, and the country's economic "immobility." Her activism has come at a direct cost. Five years ago, she was arrested for contempt of court and held for three days; her defence labelled the case political and fabricated. More recently, weeks after her ICC appointment, Cameroonian tax authorities targeted her over an alleged unpaid debt of 11,000 euros, leading to the sealing of her offices. She firmly denies the debt. This targeting followed her backing of opposition figure Issa Tchiroma Bakary in the 2025 presidential election, underscoring the political nature of these attacks.
Enonchong views these actions as an attempt to discredit her and send a message: "don’t try to work outside the system." Yet, she remains defiant, stating, "I won’t give in. Cameroon is a very beautiful country, with enormous potential and it belongs to all of us. I will continue to fight and invest for the next generation." Her struggle highlights the broader fight for justice and self-determination in contexts where political freedom is suppressed, a struggle often ignored by the very global institutions that benefit from the free flow of capital and resources from these regions. It exposes the hypocrisy of a global order that celebrates individual success while enabling the repression of those who challenge its underlying power structures.